Palladium-Catalyzed Regioselective Hydroaminocarbonylation of Alkynes to α,β-Unsaturated Primary Amides with Ammonium Chloride.

α,β-Unsaturated primary amides have found numerous applications in drug development, organic materials, and polymer sciences. However, the catalytic synthesis of α,β-unsaturated primary amides via carbonylation of alkynes has long been an elusive endeavor. Here, we report a novel palladium-catalyzed hydroaminocarbonylation of alkynes with NH4Cl as the amine source, enabling the highly chemo- and regioselective synthesis of α,β-unsaturated primary amides. A variety of alkynes, including aromatic alkynes, aliphatic alkynes, terminal alkynes, internal alkynes, as well as diynes with various functional groups, react well. The method turns the parasitic noncoordination ability of ammonium salts into a strategic advantage, enabling the gram-scale reaction to be performed in the presence of 0.05 mol % of catalyst with excellent selectivity.